This book promised to be “a high concept psychological suspense thriller” but instead I found a completely unbelievable story.

After an extremely brief encounter, our hero begins to fixate on a woman he saw in an airport gift shop. Not only did she not say thank you after he picked up the phone she dropped, she was also wearing a hat and sunglasses. Goodness—that does make her mysterious! But wait, they run into each other outside the bathrooms and decide to go for a drink. After a couple of drinks and chit-chat, she kisses him, says they’ll never meet again, and leaves to catch her plane. Our intrepid hero then decides the thing to do is forget about his plans, buy a first class ticket for the plane his mystery woman may or may not be on, and fly from Atlanta to Nashville. Are you kidding me?!? His actions only become more implausible as the story continues. What kind of person does these things?? Not one I want to read about!

There were a few chapters about a female cop every once in awhile that were interesting, but honestly, our dumb-bunny hero was making this book too much of a chore to read. By 30% I simply could not handle any more of his idiotic decisions and had to quit reading.

Not my favorite of his - started strong, but I honestly got bored and felt like not a lot went on even though this one was 400 pages. I expected there to be a big twist/shock/scandal and I didn't feel like there really was one... so it was a letdown personally. I wanted to love it but this one just fell flat for me.

This was just okay for me. I wanted to love it, but oddly enough, even though I enjoyed it enough to finish...I just didn't care at the end.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. Though it got off to a good start, it became boring and I had to push to finish.

Fellow readers, what we have here is another case of that’s it?!

Joshua Fields takes the same flights every week for work. During yet another layover, he meets Morgan, a beautiful stranger with whom he feels an immediate connection. As soon as Morgan disappears in the crowd, Joshua is shocked to see her face on a nearby TV. The reason: Morgan is a missing person.

What follows is just … blah! At first, I was intrigued by Morgan. Why was she missing? What was her story? However, she lost her original appeal the more I read. And Joshua? I wanted to smack him! I understand he was looking for something more out of life, but following this stranger? I didn’t find this relatable at all.

Sometimes the ending can be the saving grace for a book. A great twist will often make me forget a lackluster story. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Layover. In fact, it’s been a few days since I finished the book and I can’t remember how it ended. I do know things are wrapped up, but obviously the ending didn’t leave much of an impact.

This is the first book by Bell that I haven’t enjoyed. His mysteries usually leaving me unable to turn the pages fast enough. This one found me skipping more than reading because I was bored. Here’s hoping the next one is better.

A chance encounter with a mysterious woman during an airport layover will throw Joshua Field's life into a complete and total tailspin. Bored of his life both professionally and romantically, Joshua is not shy about the fact that he is looking for a change so when a beautiful woman with dramatic sunglasses (indoors, nonetheless) catches his eye, he is curious to know more about her and she has a drink with him and kisses him, and then leaves him in the lurch. Desperate to know more, Joshua does some sleuthing and thanks to good ol' Facebook, it appears that Ms. Morgan Reynolds is a missing person.

David Bell has previously written about missing persons, so maybe the fact that I've gone on a quest to devour his backlist has burned me out a bit to this genre, but I wanted to smack Joshua. A woman says she won't see you again and leaves and your instinct is to uproot your life to try to follow her? Um.

I did enjoy the plot and find Bell to be a tremendously talented writer (which is evidenced in Layover as well as his previous books), however, I did not find any of the characters likable and I did not find myself rooting for them as I would have hoped.

I want to be clear here, I did enjoy this book and I think 3 stars is still a positive review, I will definitely be purchasing more of Bell's books in the future and recommending him to friends. This one in particular just fell a little short of my expectations. For those of you who have not burned yourself out on this genre quite as much as I have, I think this may be more successful for you.

Thank you to Berkley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Another great, fast paced thriller from David Bell! I enjoyed trying to put the pieces together as I quickly flipped through the pages. The book alternated between Joshua, a young man who has been working a job he hates since he graduated from college and was looking for something new and different and Detective Kimberly Gives, trying to get the job done and hopefully get a promotion. This book had me guessing until the end! I thought the character development was good for Joshua and Kimberly but couldn't really connect with Morgan and wished she was developed a little bit more. It was hard to feel any sympathy for her! Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for and ARC copy.

David Bell has been killing it lately. I’ve been reading his new books every year! Our main character meets a woman on a plane and they are head over heels. But never speak again. Then he sees her on TV! But as a missing person! Loved this roller coaster.

This is a book that could be listed as "guy-lit". The premise is a little far fetched, but sometimes you just go with it. The ending is good because it is unusual and unexpected. A quick easy read that will hold one's interest easily.

Layover was a quick read that just didn’t grab me. I enjoyed it enough to not want to put it down but I did not find it to be that suspenseful. The characters were a bit predictable and not as developed as they could have been. The framework of an interesting story is definitely there.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

While the beginning struck me as simple and slow moving, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story about 25% of the way into this novel. Joshua Fields is in the Atlanta airport, yet again, on a business trip when he is drawn to and meets Morgan. Their brief encounter leads him to flip his uneventful and unfulfilling life in a 'white knight' attempt to assist her, even though she asked for no help. The event quickly spiral and who is telling the truth and what really happened before they met keep Joshua, and the reader, guessing until the very end. Bring your willing suspension of disbelief to several plot points, and this psychological thriller is an interesting read that moves and reads quickly.


With thanks to the author, David Bell, and NetGalley.com for the advanced reader copy.

A good fast Summer read. Throughout the story I kept wondering why one of the characters kept doing what he did. It almost felt like he was becoming a stalker after not learning his first lesson. I was like seriously a Kiss made this character act and do the things he did.

Thank you for the advanced reading copy and allowing me to review Layover.

Loved everything about this book! A highly must read on your summer vacation and where else but on an airplane! This book had me guessing and keeping me up way past my bedtime!

Joshua Fields is a lost man, unhappy with his job and his life. All it takes is a kiss in an airport bar and he is off on a search, but is it for her or for himself? A strange journey full of circumstances that are difficult to believe and characters that are very believable.

I was really disappointed by this book. The premise and write-up got me really excited to read it but it was a huge let down. No real reason the characters reacted the way they did and not very believable in the way the plot went down.

This one started a little slow for me. Then, it picked up and didn't let go. I admit, I didn't like the characters. I just couldn't understand them or their motivations. They kept making ridiculously complicated and stupid decisions that no rational adult would actually make. The red herring was effective, I kept wondering if I had the right villain. Overall, a decent suspenseful read, if you don't mind some seriously unrealistic events. What I really liked is the ending and the message it sends.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley.com in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

A fast paced thriller with a unique twist. As a travel advisor and book blogger, the premise of this book was a major hook. I always think how often we meet and talk to someone at an airport, never to see them again, and how much can we learn as we chat with them during a short layover? Well business traveler Joshua Fields finds out. He meets the intriguing Morgan during a layover, they share a drink, a chat, and she departs with a kiss. Joshua is left wanting more. Wanting to know more about Morgan and wanting more from his life. For some time he's been dissatisfied in his job, working for his father, traveling every week, just barely able to do it by numbing himself with pills and drink, because and he's a nervous traveler. After Morgan departs he finds out from television, she's a missing person and sets out to find her and help her, because he's sure she's in trouble.

This story was hard for me to put down. I wanted to find out what was going to happen. Plenty of twisty, deceitful paths, things that are not what they seem, and Joshua finding himself way out of his element. I found myself rooting for Joshua and hoping he did not get hurt in more ways than one. The author did a masterful job of showing Joshua getting stronger, forced to get out of his shell as he pursues Morgan. There were even a few comedic scenes as well, such as the escape on the housekeeping cart!

This is a perfect summer vacation read! Page turning, heart pounding thriller. #Layover #Netgalley

I loved some of David Bell's other books so much that I almost feel guilty giving this one an unenthusiastic review. He always writes well so it's always enjoyable to read his work, but the plot of this one just didn't work for me, even though it had sounded good. The problem to me was that Morgan was an unappealing character from the start, and she only became less admirable over the course of the book. Joshua seemed, therefore, to be a bit of a fool; I found his obsession with her unconvincing and disturbing. How many ways did she have to tell him that she didn't want to see him again or that she was in no way worth his concern? I truly didn't care what happened to her and was not invested in his hopes for--what? A relationship? Being her savior? I just didn't care. The whole thing just left me feeling kind of yucky. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

A suspense-filled, fast-paced book that had me flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen. Layover is entertaining storytelling at its best!

The book switches smoothly between Joshua Fields, an All-American guy working in a job he hates, flying on planes he’s terrified of, and Detective Kimberly Givens, a single mom doing her best to be there for her daughter while trying to find a local businessman who’s gone missing. These two stories intersect seamlessly in a way that not only builds tension, but also made me root for each of the characters.

A smart, tantalizingly tense thriller that you’ll want to read all in one go—perfect, unsurprisingly, for while you’re on an airplane.

Not one of my favorites. It was hard to follow, and at times didn't make a lot of sense. You felt sorry for the main character, but also thought very little of him.